Kai waited with agonising patience as Vaijon went through the motions of preparing the duel. Kurgane had been initially angry that he couldn’t fight the Commander, but was now pacing back and forth.

  Kai allowed himself a small smile as he contemplated how far this must be from what Kurgane had planned. It had been foolish for him to forget that there were unbound Sorcerers present.

  When Vanarr had first given the Commander control over their force, Kai had taken him aside and promised his support for exactly this situation. He’d seen the questioning look in Silver’s eye when the challenge had been issued and had given the Commander a discreet nod.

  Kai felt honour-bound to defend the Commander, especially after all they’d been through together. The fact that it was Kurgane that he would be killing simply made it all the sweeter.

  Still, it had been a risk for Silver to ask for no restrictions. Augur or one of the other Hobson’s Point Sorcerers could also have stepped in, but they lacked the experience and power to face someone like Kurgane.

  For all that Kurgane was treacherous and opportunistic, he was also not far from becoming an Elder. Fortunately, Kai was himself at the very brink of that threshold in power.

  Of the four disciplines a Sorcerer could learn, Kai could Augment, Manipulate and Enhance, but he had yet to master Projection. He was close, though, he could feel it.

  Endless hours of practice had brought him to the cusp of that progression in both of the elements he could call upon. He just needed a flash of inspiration to get him there.

  No doubt Kurgane was in a similar position, but Kai did have one further advantage, one that Kurgane had unknowingly allowed.

  Everyone knew that Vaijon had been training him, but only a handful of people knew why. If Kurgane had known, he’d have restricted the magic portion of the challenge to being Essence only.

  Then again, he hadn’t expected Kai to be involved at all, so perhaps not. Still, unrestricted magic was a pointless declaration from a Sorcerer attempting to fight a normal man.

  It was all arrogant posturing on Kurgane’s part. He reminded Kai of the scum who had taken his sister, and Kai was looking forward to doing to Kurgane what he’d done to the others.

  “The duel arena is ready,” Vaijon called out from where he’d been supervising the preparation of the fighting area. “Disciples, please approach.”

  A circle of cleared space roughly sixty paces across was bounded by a half-dozen Disciples of Adamar. They would ensure that the two fighters remained within the circle until the challenge was done.

  The distant sound of the approaching caravan told Kai that they had little time to waste on all this. They needed to keep moving if they were to stop the Cyth Scerrd from reading Miyaka Forest.

  Kai didn’t even have the beginnings of an idea about what the foul things had planned there, but it could only end badly for everyone else.

  Besides, he’d missed out on fighting it last time thanks to the Weeping Death and their stupidity, he refused to let Kurgane do the same now.

  Pushing any thought of what might come after the duel aside, Kai walked over to the prepared circle and stepped inside.

  “Good luck,” Ruthin, one of the Sorcerers maintaining the circle, said softly as Kai passed him by.

  Kai gave the other man a subtle nod before grounding his spear and focusing on his opponent.

  Kurgane was neither tall nor powerfully built, so in a purely physical confrontation, Kai was confident that he would win.

  No contest between Sorcerers was purely physical, though, and Kai had no real knowledge of Kurgane’s fighting style.

  He knew that the other man’s magic took the form of a liquid in some cases and was fire-based, but that was all.

  “Disciple Skarv, this is your last opportunity to retract your challenge. Do you wish to proceed?” Vaijon asked, his voice carrying through the silence that surrounded them.

  There was no sound now, not even from whispered conversations. Everyone was watching, waiting for violence that would soon commence.

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  “Yes, it’s time that I put this amateur in his place,” Kurgane said, sneering at Kai as he drew a long, slender blade that had been sheathed at his side.

  “Very well,” Vaijon said, backing away to the edge of the circle. “Begin!”

  Kai drew on the fire and wind Essence within him, drawing the fire out into his body as he called out to the air around him with the wind.

  Strength, speed and power surged through Kai as his Essence went to work, while at the same time, a gust of wind struck out at Kurgane.

  “A wind Sorcerer?” Kurgane said as he braced for the gust, the wind failing to do more than push him a half-step backwards. “Pathetic, even by the low standards of your kind.”

  Kai heard Ruthin bristle behind him at the insult, but his attention was instead on the fact that Kurgane didn’t know what sort of Sorcerer he was.

  Kai had assumed that they shared the same rough knowledge of each other, that wind blast had been intended to misdirect any attempts at a quick attack. Kurgane had taken it as a genuine attempt, however, which was perfect.

  He knew how he was going to win this.

  “Is that all you have?” Kurgane taunted as he slowly closed the distance between them, Essence welling up inside him.

  “It is all I need,” Kai said calmly, matching Kurgane’s steady closure as he held his spear at the ready. He had to bait out some attacks first, while relying on his wind and spear alone.

  “Is that what you think?” Kurgane’s mocking laughter rang out as a vast amount of Essence focused in his free hand. “Let me show you true Sorcery.”

  The buildup of Essence that Kai could sense swiftly peaked as Kurgane made a throwing motion and a javelin of brightly glowing liquid formed in his hand before flying out in Kai’s direction.

  Kai dodged to the side, the fire he’d called on earlier granting him the speed he needed to avoid whatever Kurgane had conjured.

  The projectile sailed past Kai, striking the ground and exploding in a spray of whatever it was made of.

  Even at a distance, Kai could feel the heat coming from the attack and steam rose from where some of it had landed in a small puddle.

  “Good, good!” Kurgane called out, giving Kai a mocking round of applause, even as he formed a second javelin and threw it at Kai. “Don’t die too quickly, I want to see the hope fade in your eyes.”

  Kai dodged the incoming attack with ease, drawing lightly on his Essence to ensure that the power circulating through him was topped up.

  With the second attack, Kai realised that Kurgane was conjuring some sort of mix between burning oil and molten rock. It seemed to be purely made of flames, but it behaved a little like both. That meant it was purely conjured by his Essence, which played into Kai’s plan.

  The average Sorcerer wouldn’t recognise the difference, but Kai had been fighting monsters for years, and he’d earned his knowledge the hard way.

  Circling Kurgane, Kai waited patiently until the other Sorcerer was conjuring his third javelin before lunging forward and attacking with both wind and spear in concert.

  The javelin broke as the wind smashed into it, but Kurgane only laughed as it reformed into a gauntlet while he dodged Kai’s attack.

  Half of the conjured fire was lost in reforming the attack, but Kurgane didn’t seem to care as he closed the distance, slashing with his sword before trying to grapple Kai with his burning fist.

  Kai caught the blade on his spear and swayed aside from the grab before stabbing down with the haft of his weapon to hit the inside of Kurgane’s knee.

  The spike at the base of his spear punched into the Sorcerer’s flesh, though it missed the joint, and Kurgane staggered back with a shout of pain.

  The fiery gauntlet changed again, losing some of its size as it did, into a large dagger that Kurgane threw at Kai as he tried to gain some distance.

  A gust of wind knocked the dagger aside without Kai even breaking stride and he kept up the pressure on Kurgane. Again and again he stabbed out with his spear, using small concentrated gusts of wind to unbalance the other man at key moments and disrupt his fiery creations.

  Bleeding from both arms and limping badly, Kurgane’s smile had slipped, but the malice in his gaze had only grown as Kai turned up the pressure.

  Creating a sword of liquid flame, Kurgane tried to regain his advantage and drive Kai back, striking at both Kai’s head and chest at once.

  Kai saw the attacks coming and pulled heavily on the speed and agility of the fire coursing through him. Kurgane was using a fire enhancement as well, but it was strength and aggression based, typical of the Defiant Flame.

  Fire was so much more than that. It was unchained, unbound and could move in the blink of an eye.

  Holding onto that understanding, Kai slipped past the flaming blade that was coming at him and swayed beneath the other. He was too close for the spear of his spear, but as he slid past Kurgane, Kai whipped up the end and smashed it into the arrogant Sorcerer’s nose.

  Blood sprayed out, but Kai saw the flaming blade flicker as it shifted to an unformed mass.

  Leaping away with as much speed as he could muster, Kai felt the flames at his back as Kurgane roared in frustration and pain.

  The ground between them burned with Kurgane’s anger, his carefully formed construct abandoned in the face of a wild spray of fire.

  Blood oozed from Kurgane’s broken nose, but he reached into his robes and pulled out a familiar potion. Dropping his sword, Kurgane held up his hand up to send a wide spray of fire at Kai to keep him back.

  Judging the distance, Kai saved his Essence and simply backed up, letting the attack waste itself, but also letting it buy Kurgane the time he needed to drink the healing potion.

  Watching Kai with a mix of wariness and hate, Kurgane reached up and cracked his nose back into position as the potion went to work. A few of the injuries remained visible, but the pain was numbed and the bleeding stopped. A high quality potion by all standards.

  “There, much better,” Kurgane said, tossing the empty bottle aside. “I took that from a nice little workshop I visited. Such a shame, but it burnt down not long after I was there.”

  Kai eyed the distinctive blue tint of the glass bottle that had been cast aside, remembering Natalia’s description of the fire that killed her family.

  “You bring death and pain wherever you go,” Kai said, walking carefully forward to avoid the lingering fire on the ground around him. “It is time to end that.”